There is a saying in my family - "don't put peanuts in the birthday cake". This strange motto is slightly apt for this off the world puzzler/walking sim/racer/adventure game. See, the developer behind Where the Bees Make Honey has thrown a hell of a lot of ingredients into the bowl, and whilst some are very tasty, others have gone off.
We've all played those games where you are found wandering around a modern location that has been decimated and abandoned, all thanks to some unforeseen apocalyptic event, leaving you alone to have the time of your life. It's as familiar as collecting coins in a platformer or endlessly sorting out your inventory and deciding whether to throw away the magical stone of Amos or that x6 scope that you will never use.
Sometimes though these abandoned worlds are full of killer robots. Welcome to Generation Zero.
Take one look at Miles & Kilo and it becomes pretty obvious where the game draws its inspiration from. It looks like Super Mario Brothers. It sounds like Super Mario Brothers. It feels like Super Mario Brothers. The main character even looks like the famous Italian plumber. Miles, in his blue and red outfit, is only missing an M on his red cap and a black moustache to complete his get-up.
Yet when you play it, you realise that Miles & Kilo is so much more than some cheap Mario clone. Everything in this game is executed brilliantly and it is a joy to play.
FAR: Line Sails has no dialogue and almost no explanation of the controls or the goal of the game, but it's so impeccably designed that it doesn't need them. The game gracefully pushes and teaches you the mechanics, so that everything comes to the player intuitively.
In an attempt to move into the modern era, the latest offering from KEMCO ditches the retro graphics and brings a fully realised 3D world to the screen, with their latest game, Sephirothic Stories.
Another month and we have another instalment of the ongoing attempt of world domination by KEMCO and their seemingly endless back catalogue of RPGs. By now we almost know the story before we start the game: a band of characters that initially don't get on need to become a team, all in order to take down a big bad guy and save the world. And surprise surprise, that seems to be the story here with Bonds of the Skies. Is this the straw that breaks the camel’s back, or is this a good KEMCO game in its own right?
Being touted as an “Action Hero Defence” game, Hell Warders joins the likes of the Dungeon Defenders series, Sanctum, Iron Brigade and more, in the modern evolution of the tower defence genre. However, your experience will feel anything but modern. See, between performance to artistic execution, your time spent in the world of Eumios will feel dated.
For those who ignored Ghost of a Tale during its spell in Xbox Game Preview, the completed story follows a small, charming and captivating little rodent. It is he who finds himself imprisoned within the dark and dreary walls of Dwindling Heights Keep on the shore of Lake Vaelia, separated from the true love of his life, Meera.
Windscape will instantly feel familiar for numerous reasons. It’s quite clearly inspired by Nintendo’s groundbreaking Legend of Zelda series and is also reminiscent of the free-to-play MMORPG RuneScape, which was released way back in 2001; for those of us old enough to remember. The question is, how does Windscape stack up against such cherished games? Is it a pale imitation or does it come across as a worthy successor?
When I was presented with playing The Division 2 I was a little apprehensive about what was in store, mainly as I had an absolute blast playing around with the original game in a post-apocalypse New York. Would I be engaged in the same way again with this strategy shooter, or would I be left wanting to turn the guns on myself after the first mission?
Alien Cruise is a sci-fi side-scroller developed by Cotton Gamer, in which your protagonist embarks on a journey to discover another planet, due to the deterioration of the Earth’s environment.
Operencia: The Stolen Sun is deeply inspired by the dungeon crawling party RPGs of the late ‘80s and ‘90s, hugely reminiscent of games like Wizardry or Bards Tale. It’s evident everywhere you look, from the gameplay, to the setting, to the story itself. And thankfully, it takes the best from that genre and creates a mixtape of fantasy role playing content that you can spend hours going through. It does not do everything right but it’s a worthwhile experience.
Xenon Racer isn’t your typical racing simulation experience. It has no in-depth handling or physics model, and it isn’t going to punish you for the slightest slip on the steering wheel or for hitting that apex to hard. Instead Xenon Racer is aimed at the more casual racer, the arcade racer, the fan of all things fast and furious who wants to be able to relax and simply enjoy some racing.
Sometimes a game can come along out of nowhere, sit itself quietly amongst the countless other games available and wait patiently for someone to discover the hidden gem it is. In the case of Degrees of Separation, those titans were Metro Exodus and Far Cry: New Dawn, AAA games that occupied the same launch week as this indie offering. If now though you’re ready to move on from the blockbusters and take on something a little calmer, something that can present a memorable and enjoyable experience, then this little indie gem could be just the game for you.
The real-time strategy genre is one that’s synonymous with the PC platform, with a plethora of keys to obey your every command, as opposed to the rather limited console controller. It’s been a while since I’ve truly enjoyed an RTS on any console; probably back when Command & Conquer titles were frequent. Now though, developers Warcave and Crazy Monkey Studios are trying to deliver something a little different to Xbox One with a Stone Age themed RTS in the form of Warparty. Is it going to rock our world and be a fresh take on the genre that we’ve been crying out for?
